Awkward Handshakes (And Variations), How Do You Deal?

I get awkward handshakes like nobody’s business.

Seriously, I have old dudes going for fist bumps, young guys switching between firm grip shakes and high fives, family members pulling handshakes into awkward hugs, fucking air fives and the classic “My hands are wet because I just used your bathroom and washed my hands and there was no hand towel, it’s nice to meet you”-handshake aka Wet Handshake. I even gave Jacob a pretty good(bad) one when I met him at Anime Expo; he went in for a low-five+bro-fist, I failed and gave him the businessman shake. These things happen pretty quickly, trying to correct it usually makes the situation worse.


How do I deal? I usually pretend I don’t give a fuck.

if you have sweaty palms, don't touch me or just fist bump :|

otherwise i usually don't care. missed high fives and stuff = lol moments.

wow, that's quite a variety of handshakes you're getting. People usually just give me the standard. Maybe they're intimidated by my size.

Just go in for the kill first. That's what i do.

I usually just do the firm handshake. It's formal and simple
Unless they go for a high five.
Just go along with it (unless its' something really awkward)

High Five, Fist bump. and Hand shake.

Fuck, yo. I'm Muslim. We greet otha' niggas with handhsakes every time we fuckin' meet. EVERY SINGLE FUCKIN' TIME, YO. AND YOU BEST NOT BE FUCKIN' EVEN ONE HANDSHAKE UP OR YOU'LL BE FUCKED FO' LIFE. EVENTUALLY, YOU MASTER THE ART OF HANDHSAKING.

Pro-tip: If your hand is wet, fuckin' wipe it on your pants or shirt or something before you shake a person's hand.

The most awkward one in my life is when I was trying to handshake a Lefty.... lol (I'm a righty) we kept changing hands until we agreed on which hands that will shake lol.

I get irritated with the long and fancy handshakes; I don't have rhythm so I always mess up. I always go for the fist bump, its quick and simple.

Brief but firm is how I do it! Go in first and take control of that handshake, nothing worse than shaking hands with a what feels like a wet noodle...hate that.

I try to focus on the eye contact more than overpowering the shake.
I'm pretty shy, so I suspect that shows, but I try to engage a handshake with all I feel is appropriate. :)

I always have firm shake when I do it to show respect.
but I mostly stick with a hand slap and then fist bump AKA
THE BRO FIST

I hate the "i'm insecure so i must crush you" hand shakes the most. i just go limp when ever i get one of those. proving how tough i am to someone i just met is not that important to me.

i usualy try to avoid handshakes altogether. i go for the garth(wayne's world), akward wave. let them think i have a phobia or something.

i sometimes like to be a jerk and wave to only one random person, but shake everyone else's hand. give the poor fool a complex. or if it's someone i keep meeting, change up my style every time.


where i'm from, the standard is the slide. reach out like a regular handshake, as soon as contact is made, pull back while sliding along the other persons hand. no acctual grip.

I make it a habbit to shake hands with everyone I have decent conversation with that I enjoyed.I started doing that when I became immensely impressed when an older gentleman decided to shake my hand after a conversation we had.Generally shaking hands with anyone i conversed with allowed me to get better at handshakes with every new aquantence I met,plus it's good practice.though of course there are people who don't appreciate the formality especially when associating with younger generations they do say chivalry is dead

I always go for strong and firm grip. It irritates me to have someone give me a handshake that's like a limp noodle.
(Mr. Shaggnificent I'm looking at you, however, it does not stem from insecurity.)
I also don't tend to grip to crush the other person's hand either. Just a firm grip is fine.

With my friends we just fist bump and I make any awkward screw up worse with a bro hug or pelvic thrust. With my business partners, it's always a hand shake.

I only rely on the bro fist when something awesome has transpired, spoken or otherwise. I shake hands with people I meet for the first time, wiping any sweat off beforehand, but I tend to gauge the handshake based on how they look physically(If they're lanky/skinny, it's going to be gentle/loose. If they look strong/bulky, I'm going to attempt to break their hand.). If it's just with friends/acquaintances, I go for the basic hand clasp into finger lock into a hug.

Ditto.
Hate getting the fist bump or the weird finger shake.

I shake ppls hands but my hands are small so i can't really grip them that well. Other times though its this weird gangsta slap hands ends in a brofist type of thing. I just prefer to greet ppl through hugs otherwise.

exploding fist bump and high five, nuff said